Radical Democrats Embrace Anti-Gun Messaging in Florida, Other Swing States

Sep 26, 2018

By: Brenden Boudreau

It remains to be seen whether the so-called “blue wave” Democratic takeover the national media has been hyping will materialize. Nevertheless, anti-gun financiers are taking advantage of a record number of anti-gun candidates running for office by dumping millions of dollars into their campaign coffers.

Nowhere is this truth more evident than in Florida, where prominent members of both political parties are on the bankroll of the gun control lobby.

Radical Anti-Gun Candidate for Gov.
Andrew Gillum shocked the Florida political establishment last month when he won the Democratic nomination for governor in dramatic fashion. Florida Politics has since reported the Brady Campaign and Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety are going all-out to support Gillum in his gubernatorial bid.

Gillum has not shied away from the gun issue; rather, he’s embraced it, running on one of the most radically anti-gun platforms for a statewide candidate in Florida history.

Gillum made headlines in July when he called on current Governor Rick Scott (R) to declare a state of emergency and suspend the state’s Stand Your Ground law. And just days ago, Gillum took to Twitter to announce, “When we win, we will ban assault weapons in Florida.”

Gun Control a Winning Platform for Swing-States?
Gillum and his backers are testing whether an openly anti-gun Democrat can win election in a swing state.

Of course, it is difficult for gun owners to know who is really on their side – Republican or not – after Scott and Republican legislative leadership rammed through the most expansive gun control package in recent Florida history in March 2018.

Incoming Senate President Republican Bill Galvano, a chief architect of Scott’s gun control law, recently accepted a $200,000 check from Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety and proudly exclaimed he was “grateful for the support,” meaning Gillum will have a bipartisan ally to advance new legislation if he wins in November.

DeSantis Is a Disappointment
Florida gun owners have experienced more disappointment in Republican candidate for governor, Ron DeSantis, who chose State Representative Jeanette Nunez as his running mate. Nunez was instrumental in passing Florida’s Great Gun Control Bill earlier this year.

When first elected to Congress, DeSantis seemed poised to be a leader on the gun rights issue, but quickly became complacent, eventually voting to advance the “Fix NICS” gun control package included in this year’s federal spending bill.

While DeSantis is being billed as the last hope for gun owners, his record in Congress and choice of a running mate, along with his refusal to answer his National Association for Gun Rights candidate survey, are giving many grassroots activists in Florida pause. His lackluster polling numbers are telling.

Teaching the Gun Lobby a Lesson
Members of both political parties are in the pocket of the anti-gun lobby, which means gun owners must remain vigilant no matter the result of the elections this fall.

The anti-gun storm in Florida has been brewing for more than a decade, as the establishment gun lobby has been handing out bloated ratings to any candidate with an “R” next to their name. Let’s hope the events of earlier this year have taught the gun lobby an important lesson about the dangers of trusting anyone who mouths generic support for the Second Amendment, only to stab gun owners in the back as soon as they’re elected to office.

Only now do Florida gun owners have a genuine voice supporting their Second Amendment rights. Florida Gun Rights, the in-state affiliate of the National Association for Gun Rights, is the state’s only no-compromise grassroots Second Amendment organization.

Florida Gun Rights spent the entire summer exposing the Republican establishment in Tallahassee for their betrayal of gun owners and is taking several Democrats, including Gillum, to task for their blatant assault on the right to keep and bear arms.

Holding politicians in both parties accountable for their assaults on the Second Amendment is the only way the gun control in Florida and elsewhere will be stopped.

Brenden Boudreau is the Director of Field Operations for the National Association for Gun Rights, writing from Michigan. Contact him at bpb@nagrhq.org. Disclosure: In addition to his work with the National Association for Gun Rights, the author is also Executive Director of Great Lakes Gun Rights.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Gunpowder Magazine.